Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are involved in a range of disorders involving reduced cholinergic function such as Alzheimer's disease, cognitive or attention disorders, anxiety, depression, smoking cessation, neuroprotection, schizophrenia, analgesia, Tourette's syndrome, and Parkinson's disease as is discussed in: McDonald et al., (1995) “Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors: Molecular Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacology”, Chapter 5 in Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 30, pp. 41-50, Academic Press Inc., San Diego, Calif.; Williams et al., (1994) “Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors,” Drug News & Perspectives, vol. 7, pp. 205-223, and Holladay et al., (1997) J. Med. Chem. 40(26), 4169-4194; Arneric and Brioni (Eds.) (1998) “Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors: Pharmacology and Therapeutic Opportunities”, John Wiley & Sons, New York; Levin (Ed.) (2001) “Nicotinic Receptors in the Nervous System” CRC Press.
Radio-labeled compounds that bind selectively to a receptor are useful because sensitive and quantitative techniques are available for the detection of the radioactivity which allow the interaction of a compound with its receptor to be detected and measured.
One method of discovering compounds which bind to a receptor is to perform a binding assay where the degree of displacement of a radio-labeled compound by another compound is measured. Thus, radio-labeled forms of compounds that potently bind receptors are useful to screen for novel medicinal compounds which bind to receptors. Such novel medicinal compounds may modulate the activity of those receptors by agonism, partial-agonism, or antagonism.
The ability of analogue compounds to bind to localized receptors within the body makes it possible to utilize such compounds for in situ imaging by PET, SPECT and similar imaging methods. PET imaging is accomplished with the aid of tracer compounds labeled with a positron-emitting isotope: Goodman, M. M. Clinical Positron Emission Tomography, Mosby Yearbook, 1992, K. F. Hubner et al., Chapter 14. For most biological targets, few isotopes are suitable. The carbon isotope, 11C, has been used for PET, but its short half-life of 20.5 minutes limits its usefulness to compounds that can be synthesized and purified quickly, and to facilities that are proximate to a cyclotron where the precursor 11C starting material is generated. Other more energetic isotopes have even shorter half-lives, 13N has a half-life of 10 minutes and 15O has a half-life of two minutes. Nevertheless, PET studies have been carried out with these isotopes as described by Hubner, K. F., in Clinical Positron Emission Tomography, Mosby Year Book, 1992, K F. Hubner, et al., Chapter 2. [18F]-labeled compounds have been used in PET studies, but their use is limited by the 110-minute half-life of the isotope. Most notably, [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose has been widely used in studies of glucose metabolism and localization of glucose uptake associated with brain activity. [18F]-L-fluorodopa and other dopamine receptor analogs have also been used in mapping dopamine receptor distribution.
SPECT imaging employs isotope tracers that emit high energy photons (γ-emitters). The range of useful isotopes is greater than for PET, but SPECT provides lower three-dimensional resolution. Nevertheless, SPECT is widely used to obtain clinically significant information about analogue binding, localization and clearance rates. A isotope used for SPECT imaging is 123I, a γ-emitter with a 13.3 hour half life. Compounds labeled with 123I can be shipped up to about 1000 miles from the manufacturing site, or the isotope itself can be transported for on-site synthesis. Eighty-five percent of the isotope's emissions are 159 KeV photons, which is readily measured by SPECT instrumentation currently in use.
Increasingly, the precise location and distribution of receptors in the brain and other tissues is of interest to clinical researchers, clinicians and diagnosticians. The distribution of nAChR's in the brains of individuals having disorders involving reduced cholinergic function such as Alzheimer's disease, cognitive or attention disorders, anxiety, depression, smoking cessation, neuroprotection, schizophrenia, analgesia, Tourette's syndrome, and Parkinson's disease is of growing interest as the molecular bases of these conditions is being discovered. The precise location and distribution of nAChRs in the brain and other tissues is also of importance in assessing the relevance of animal models of these conditions.